Psychiatric disorders among men voluntarily in treatment for violent behaviour: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

ObjectivesAlthough violent behaviour and psychopathology often co-occur, there has been little research on psychiatric disorders among men in treatment for intimate partner violence (IPV). This study aimed to examine the prevalence of a broad spectrum of psychiatric disorders among men voluntarily attending treatment for IPV.Setting5 clinics for IPV treatment, located in the east, south and west of Norway, participated in the study. In a cross-sectional design, men attending therapy for violence against a partner went through a face-to-face structured diagnostic interview, the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview.Participants222 men contacted the clinic during the inclusion period; 12 men did not attend and 13 men were referred to outpatient clinics. Of the 197 men who were offered therapy, 13 did not provide consent to participate in the study, 2 were excluded and 3 men missed the interview.ResultsA total of 179 men participated in the study. The majority were ethnic Norwegians (88%). A total of 70.9% of the men fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for at least one ongoing psychiatric disorder. Three categories of disorders stood out with approximately equal prevalences: depressive disorders (40.6%), anxiety disorders (38.5%) including post-traumatic stress disorder (18.4%) and alcohol/substance abuse (40.2%). Antisocial personality disorder was present in approximately 2/10 participants. Comorbidity was high, with nearly half of the men (48.0%) assigned two or more diagnoses.ConclusionsMen voluntarily admitted to treatment for IPV harbour a wide spectrum of psychiatric disorders. Our findings suggest a need for screening procedures for psychiatric disorders as well as adoption of treatment interventions according to different types of psychopathologies and therapeutic needs. Limitations include caution in terms of generalisation to other populations not voluntarily admitted to treatment for IPV, and risk of ignoring symptoms not covered by a clinical structured interview.

Intimate Partner Violence: The Predictive Power of Experiences in the Family of Origin and of Personality Disorder Traits

“…Other pathological personality traits were once also presumed to explain the perpetration of marital violence, yet this presumption was never substantiated. In light of this fact, the present study's fi ndings corroborate the results of the majority of the studies concerning violent partners (Askeland & Heir, 2014;Jose, O'Leary, Gomez, & Foran, 2014;Maneta et al, 2013;Reingle, Jennings, Connell, Businelle, & Chartier, 2014;Thomas, Bennett, & Stoops, 2013). Furthermore, the personality trait most predictive of women's violent acts, mood instability, is more closely tied to borderline personality disorder; and the trait most predictive of male violence, aggressiveness, is more strongly associated with antisocial PD.…”

Violência conjugal: o poder preditivo das experiências na família de origem e das características patológicas da personalidade

“…Considerava-se que outras características patológicas da personalidade também poderiam aparecer como explicativas da perpetração da violência conjugal, mas esta suposição não foi confi rmada. Diante disso, os resultados deste estudo corroboram o que é trazido pela maioria dos estudos sobre agressores conjugais (Askeland & Heir, 2014;Jose, O'Leary, Gomez, & Foran, 2014;Maneta et al, 2013;Reingle, Jennings, Connell, Businelle, & Chartier, 2014;Thomas, Bennett, & Stoops, 2013). Além disso, a característica de personalidade que melhor explicou a perpetração da violência pelas mulheres, instabilidade de humor, está mais relacionada à personalidade Borderline e a que apareceu como preditora para os homens, agressividade, está mais relacionada à personalidade Antissocial.…”

How Do Men in Treatment for Intimate Partner Violence Experience Parenting their Young Child? A Descriptive Phenomenological Analysis

“…Many men who seek help for their use of intimate partner violence (IPV) are fathers and have regular contact with their children (Askeland and Heir 2014). This has been a source for concern, for several reasons: fathers may use child contact to keep up dominance and control over the children's mother (Bancroft et al 2011).…”

“…Children are vulnerable for the effects of witnessing partner abuse as they often are exposed to multiple relational trauma (Stover et al 2017), since male-to-female IPV correlates with fathers' mental health problems (Askeland and Heir 2014), alcohol and substance use problems (Stover and Spink 2012), and trait-hostility (Birkley and Eckhardt 2015). Compared to non-abusive fathers, partner-abusive fathers rate themselves higher on anger, and as more likely to express anger aggressively toward their children (Fox and Benson 2004;Francis and Wolfe 2008).…”